Venus is low in the morning sky
and is close to the crescent Moon on
the 9th.
On February 3 the crescent Moon is close to Saturn.

Jupiter
is in the evening sky near the Hyades. Jupiter was at opposition on the
3rd, when it was largest as seen from Earth. This is still an ideal time for
telescopic views of Jupiter. On the 18th the Moon
and Jupiter are close, with an ocultation in the southern half of Australia.

Mars is very close to the horizon and difficult to see. Mars is close to the crescent
Moon and Mercury on the 12th. By the end of the month it is lost to view.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

The Sky This Week - Thursday January 31 to Thursday February 7

The Last Quarter Moon is Sunday February 3. Jupiter is prominent in
the evening sky. Saturn is visible high in the morning sky and is visited by the Moon on February 3. Venus is low on the
horizon. Comet C/2012 F6 (Lemmon) brightens. Comet C/2011 L4 PANSTARRS is visible in binoculars.

Morning sky on Sunday February 3 looking east as seen from Adelaide at 3:00 am local daylight saving time in South Australia. The inset shows a telescopic view of Saturn at this time. Similar views will be
seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).

The Last Quarter Moon is Sunday February 3.

Saturn is now readily visible above the north-eastern horizon before dawn.
Saturn climbs higher in the morning sky, becoming easier to see. Saturn rises shortly after midnight, so it is high enough to be worthwhile in a small telescope in the pre-dawn dark. Saturn is in the constellation of Libra, and is visited by the Moon on Sunday February 3.

Morning sky on Sunday February 3
looking east as seen from Adelaide at 5:36 am local daylight saving
time in South Australia (at the end of nautical twilight, an hour before dawn). Similar views will be
seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).

Bright white Venus is now quite low above the eastern horizon, really only visible half an hour before sunrise and hard to see from cluttered horizons. Venus looks like a waxing Moon when seen through even a small telescope.

Venus starts the week in Sagittarius and ends in Capricornius.

Comet C/2011 L4 PANSTARRS is brightening, and is visible in telescopes and binoculars, but is rapidly washed out by the advancing twilight.

On the 1st and 2nd of February PANSTARRS may be seen close to the brightish double star beta Sagittarii.

In late February this may be a good unaided eye comet.

Evening sky looking North as seen from Adelaide at 22:00 pm local daylight saving time on Sunday, February 3.
The inset shows Jupiter's Moons at this time. At this time the ISS is quite close to Jupiter as seen from Adelaide. The inset shows the view of Jupiter's Moons at this time. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.

Jupiter is visible for most of the night, and is the brightest object in the
evening sky. Despite opposition having just passed on the December the 3rd 2012, Jupiter is prominent in the northern early evening sky, being quite
visible in the twilight. Jupiter is below the Hyades, near the red star Aldebaran. Jupiter remains near Aldebaran during the week, making it look as if the Bull has two eyes.

Jupiter, Aldebaran and the white star Rigel in Orion form a long line in the sky. With the Pleiades cluster and the constellation of Orion close by, this is a beautiful sight.

Jupiter is easily seen in the late evening sky, rising around 4:00 pm local daylight saving time and is highest in the north by 9:00 pm. Now is a perfect
time to observe Jupiter with a telescope of any size in the evening. Jupiters' Moons are easily seen in binoculars, and can be followed from night to night changing position.

On the 3rd Europa is occulted by Jupiter at 21:35 ACST, it reappears at 00:02 on the 4th, then almost immediately goes into eclipse, reappearing at 2:33.

Comet C/2012 F6 Lemmon's location as seen from Adelaide at 22:00 ACDST on Saturday 2 January. Similar
views will be seen elsewhere in Australia and New Zealand at equivalent local times. (click to
embiggen).

Comet C/2012 F6 (Lemmon) is a nice little binocular comet, it is now traversing the minor , and will pass close to the Small Magellanic
Cloud 0n February 14-15.

It is brightening rapidly, and is (just) visible to the
unaided eye in dark sky locations. You will need to watch before Moon rise to see it with the unaided eye, and to see it at its best in a telescope or binoculars.

For charts, printable spotters maps and observing hints, see this page.

Monday, January 28, 2013

Comet C/2012 F6 Lemmon Update for February.

Comet C/2012 F6 Lemmon's position as seen from Adelaide at 22:00 ACDST on January 31, looking south. The Moon rises 20 minutes later (click to embiggen).

Comet F6 Lemmon has been gradually brightening, with the most recent reports suggesting that it is now magnitude 6.1. This is at the threshold of visibility to the unaided eye under dark skies, but unfortunately the just-past-full Moon interferes until this Thursday, 31 January, then it can be easily followed with binoculars as the Moon rises later each night.

By the 14th and 15th it may be bright enough to be visible to the unaided eye under suburban skies. This would be great as on these dates the comet is near the Small Magellanic cloud and the brigh globular cluster 47 Tucanae, which can be seen as a fuzzy star to the unaided eye. This will look quite impressive in binoculars.

The comet is currently a fuzzy green dot. While not spectacular it is quite beautiful as seen in this image on the 20th from Rob Kaufmann, another from the 24th here and he has a great animation of the comet going through the Southern Cross here. John Drummond of New Zealand has a nice telescopic shot here. Comet Al has a nice image and an animation taken with some unusual equipment.

Printable black and white spotter map showing the course of comet C/2012 F6 Lemmon over the month. The map is for 22:00 hours ACST, similar views will be seen at equivalent local times. The map is oriented to the south, it's a bit cluttered, but the photorealistic version at the top will help guide you (click to embiggen and print).

Printable black and white binocular map, use the spotter map to orient yourself. The circle is the field of view of 10x 50 binoculars. Click to embiggen and print. When using the maps, use a torch with red cellophane over the business end so as to not damage your night vision.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Not Seeing a Transit of Io

For the first time in ages the sky was clear enough and the atmosphere still enough to get my reflector telescopes out.

There was Europa coming out of eclipse, followed by a transit of Io. So I got out the 4" Newtonian and started setting it up for imaging.

It was nicely clear an I could see some intermediate atmospheric bands in the medium power eye piece. I showed the planet to MiddleOne, who has had a resergence in interest in what I do, then turned to get the imaging run ready.

So of course cloud came over, thick, orgulous cloud, exactly the kind you can't see Jupiter through. Sigh.

Oh for Drakskywatcher7 and all those who think Jupiter has tilted, it was in exactly the right orientation with regard to Omega Taurii and the minor stars that it should be.

EldestOne is an Even Number Old.

EldestOne is an even number old, the square root of his age is the sum of the first and second digits of MiddleOne's age. This number subtracted from MiddleOne's age gives SmallestOne's age. When SmallestOne's and MiddleOne's ages are added together, the sum of the first and second digits ofthe resuting number is the Square Root of EldestOne's age.

An he can now apply for his drivers license (scary thought, alog with MiddleOne starting high school). We had our traditional birthday breakfast at 11 am (teenager time :-), then went out to see "The Hobbit" in 3D (Magnifique!) and finished off with Schnitzel at the local pub. A happy Birthday had by all.

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Australia Day, 2013

This Australia Day 2013, Find The Southern Cross

The Southern Cross as seen from Adelaide at 9:30 pm ACDST. Similar views will be seen from other locations at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).

The Southern Cross is a Southern Hemisphere icon, and it appears as a central part of the Australian flag. However, many people would not be able to find the Southern Cross in the sky with confidence.

This Australia Day, when you are out getting ready to watch the Australia Day fireworks, is an excellent time to locate the constellation.
First you need to locate South. If you don't know which way south is at your local fireworks venue, then use a street directory (whose pages are oriented north-south, south is the bottom of the page) or Google Maps, to find where south is in relation to the nearby streets. Otherwise, south is to the left of Sunset.

Most of the fireworks will be around 9-9:30 to be family friendly but still be dark enough to see the fireworks.

Look south, about two handspans left from due south, and a bit over one handspan up (where a handspan is the with of your hand when making a "stop" sign with your arm fully outstretched) you will see a pair of bright stars, these are the pointers. A further handspan up and a bit over a handspan to the left you will see a cross shaped group of stars (see diagram above).

That's the Southern Cross. Now you can enjoy the fireworks knowing you have found the inspiration for our flag.

Sketching Jupiter (or No Jupiter Hasn't Tilted)

Jupiter sketched through my 50 mm unguided refractor (Alt Azmithal mount) on the nights of 15, 16 and 19 January

Jupiter as predicted by Stellarium (images inverted as my telescope inverts the image, and Stellarium doesn't in Alt AZ mode)

As I've mentioned before, the latest panic du jour is that Jupiter and Saturn are mysteriously tilting. David Greg has been imaging Jupiter, but I thought I'd present some of the sketches I did while on holiday down the coast.

For travelling, I use the little 50 mm refractor that I got when I was a teenager, it has an old and somewhat cranky alt/Az mounting, but it fits nicely in the back of an overloaded car and is good for the Moon and planets.

Since getting my webcam cameras set up and getting the digital camera adapter, I haven't done any sketching or about two years, so it was good to get back into it. Unfortunately, when sketching at home I have a red light torch to illuminate my note book, and a comfortable chair to sit on. This time I had to sketch on insolated sheets of paper in the semi-dark while crouching uncomfortably over the eye piece.

However, despite these limitations my drawing pretty closely match the predicted Stellarium position for Alt/Az mountings (when flipped because my telescope inverts the image, and Stellarium doesn't when in Alt/Az mode). I didn't look at the predictions until after I had made the sketches (at the very least because my computer with Stellarium on it was an hour and a half away).

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

The Sky This Week - Thursday January 24 to Thursday January 31

The Full Moon is Sunday January 27. Jupiter is prominent in
the evening sky. Saturn
is visible high in the
morning sky. Venus is low on the
horizon. There is a series of bright passes of the International Space Station this week. Comet C/2012 F6
(Lemmon) exits the Southern Cross. Comet C/2011 L4 PANSTARRS is visible in binoculars.

Morning sky on Saturday January 26
looking east as seen from Adelaide at 5:30 am local daylight saving
time in
South Australia. Similar views will be
seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time
(click to embiggen).

The Full Moon is Sunday January 27.

Bright white Venus
is now quite low above the eastern horizon, and hard to see from
cluttered horizons. Venus looks like a waxing Moon when seen through
even a small telescope.

Venus spends the week in Sagittarius.

Comet C/2011 L4 PANSTARRS is visible in telescopes and strong binoculars, but is rapidly washed out by the advancing twilight. In late February this may be a good unaided eye comet.

Saturn
is now readily visible above the north-eastern horizon before dawn.
Saturn
climbs higher in the morning sky, becoming easier to see in the morning
sky. Saturn rises shortly after midnight, so it is high enough to be worthwhile in a small telescope in the pre-dawn dark. Saturn is in the constellation of Libra.

Evening sky looking North as seen
from Adelaide at 21:41 pm local daylight saving time on Friday, January 25. The inset
shows Jupiter's Moons at this time. At this time the ISS is quite close to Jupiter as seen from Adelaide. Similar
views will
be seen
elsewhere at the equivalent local time (but without the ISS for more details of this week bright ISS passes see here). Click
to embiggen.

Jupiter
is visible for most of the night, and is the brightest object in the
evening sky. Despite opposition having just passed on the December the
3rd,
Jupiter is prominent in the northern early evening sky, being quite
visible in the twilight. Jupiter is below the
Hyades, near the red star Aldebaran. Jupiter remains near
Aldebaran during the week, making it look as if the Bull has two eyes.

Jupiter, Aldebaran and the white star Rigel in Orion form a long line
in the sky. With the Pleiades cluster and the constellation of Orion
close by, this is a beautiful sight.

Jupiter is easily seen in the late evening sky, rising around 4:00 pm
local daylight saving time and is highest in the north by 9:00 pm. Now
is a perfect
time to observe Jupiter with a telescope of any size in the evening.
Jupiters' Moons are
easily seen in binoculars, and can be followed from night to night
changing position.

Comet C/2012 F6 Lemmon's
location as seen from Adelaide at midnight AEDST on 26 January. Similar
views will be seen elsewhere in Australia and New Zealand at equivalent
local times. (click to
embiggen).

Comet C/2012 F6 (Lemmon) is a nice little binocular comet, it is now leaving the Southern Cross, and will pass close to the Small Magellanic Cloud in February.It is brightening rapidly, and may be visible to the unaided eye in at the start of February. The brightening Moon makes it difficult to see though.

For charts, printable spotters maps and observing hints, see this page.

Bright ISS Passes Over Australia January 23-27, 2013

The ISS passes over Adelaide at 22:33 ACDST on 22 January 2013. 10 images stacked using ImageJ. Click to embiggen the end sequence shows the ISS passing into Earth's shadow.

Between 23 and 27 January there will be a series of bright passes of the International Space Station that will be visible from most of Australia at reasonable hours of the night, which are quite family friendly.

Details vary considerably between locations. For Adelaide, the best night is Friday 25 January, when the ISS passes close to Jupiter at 21:41 ACDST, for Sydney it is 24 January, when the ISS goes through the Constellation of Orion at 21:27 AEDST. In Brisbane, the ISS passes through Orion at 19:34 AEST on the 27th and in Melbourne the ISS passes close to Jupiter and Aldebaran on the 23rd.

Visit Heavens Above to find the best viewing days and times for your location.

Jupiter and the ISS as seen from Adelaide at 21:41 ACDST. Click to embiggen.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Daylight Jupiter 22 January 2013

This is my best picture yet of Jupiter taken during the daylight. It was taken 3 minutes before Sunset, beating my previous record (images I took one minute before Sunset were better, and I have previous rubbish images from 5 minutes in, but this is my best image so far from Sunset/Sunrise). Click to embiggen to see the image clearly.

I was easily able to see Jupiter with my unaided eye 15 minutes before Sunset (I've done better but only by five minutes), and Jupiter was easily visible 30 minutes before Sunet using binoculars (with the help of my star charts to locate the position).

More posts on seeing planets in daylight (with hints and tricks), are here.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Carnival of Space #285 is Here!

Carnival of Space #285 is now up at Everyday Spacer. There's a planned manned orbit of the Moon, Iran plans to put a monkey in space, the link between neon signs and meteor trails, a proposal for a manned expedition to Mars, inflatable space stations and much, much more. Zap on over and have a read.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

The Sky This Week - Thursday January 17 to Thursday January 23

The First Quarter Moon is Saturday January 19. Jupiter is prominent in the evening sky and is visited by the Moon on the 21st and 22nd. Saturn
is visible high in the
morning sky. Venus is low on the
horizon and is visited by the crescent Moon on the 10th. Comet C/2012 F6 (Lemmon) passes through the Southern Cross.

Morning sky on Saturday January 19
looking east as seen from Adelaide at 5:30 am local daylight saving
time in
South Australia. Similar views will be
seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time
(click to embiggen).

The First Quarter Moon is Saturday January 19.

Bright white Venus
is now quite low above the eastern horizon, and hard to see from
cluttered horizons. Venus looks like a waxing Moon when seen through
even a small telescope.

Venus spends the week in Sagittarius.

Saturn
is now readily visible above the north-eastern horizon before dawn.
Saturn
climbs higher in the morning sky, becoming easier to see in the morning
sky. It should be high enough to be wothwhile in a small telescope. Saturn is in the constellation of Libra.

Evening sky looking North as seen
from Adelaide at 22:00 pm local daylight saving time on Monday, January 20. The inset
shows Jupiter's Moons at this time. Similar
views will
be seen
elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click
to embiggen.

Jupiter
is visible for most of the night, and is the brightest object in the
evening sky. Despite opposition having just passed on the December the
3rd,
Jupiter is prominent in the north-eastern early evening sky, being quite
visible in the twilight. Jupiter is below the
Hyades, near the red star Aldebaran. Jupiter remains near
Aldebaran during the week, making it look as if the Bull has two eyes.

Jupiter, Aldebaran and the white star Rigel in Orion form a long line
in the sky. With the Pleiades cluster and the constellation of Orion close by, this is a beautiful sight. Jupiter visited by the Moon on the 21st and 22nd.

Jupiter is easily seen in the late evening sky, rising around 4:30 pm
local daylight saving time and is highest in the north by 10:00 pm. Now
is a perfect
time to observe Jupiter with a telescope of any size in the evening.
Jupiters' Moons are
easily seen in binoculars, and can be followed from night to night
changing position. On the evening of Monday January 21 at 10:00 pm local
daylight savings time in the eastern and central states, Io has a shadow
transit and Ganymede becomes occulted.

Comet C/2012 F6 Lemmon's
location as seen from Adelaide at midnight AEDST on 20 January. Similar
views will be seen elsewhere in Australia and New Zealand at equivalent
local times. (click to
embiggen).

Comet C/2012 F6 (Lemmon) is a nice little binocular comet, between the 18th and 22nd it passes through the Southern Cross, coming close to the clusters there.

For charts, printable spotters maps and observing hints, see this page.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Siding Spring Observatory Hit By Bushfires

Fire tonight overran the iconic Siding Spring Observatory, almost 10 years exactly since the catastrophic fires destroyed the observatory at Mt. Stromlo fire swept through the Siding Springs complex.

Everyone had been evacuated well before hand, so no one was hurt (big wave to Pete Poulos and the rest).

Unlike Mt. Stromlo, where the observatory was destroyed, it looks like some scopes may be damaged, but others intact. Some of the non-telescope facilities may be damaged as well, we will know more in the morning. The fire is now moving away fro Coonabarabran and Siding Springs

Thanks to the New South Wales fire crews who worked hard to protect the observatory, and best wishes to the observatory staff.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Guided by the Light; Using the Moon to find the Bright Planets

Jupiter, Aldebaran and the Moon as seen from Adelaide, Australia on January 22, 2013 at 10 pm local daylight saving time, looking north. Similar views will be seen from the Southern hemisphere. The Moon's size has been exaggerated for ease of viewing (click on any image to embiggen).

Jupiter, Aldebaran and the Moon as seen from Roswell, New Mexico on January 21, 2013 at 10 pm local time, looking South near the zenith. Similar views will be seen from the Northern hemisphere. The Moon's size has been exaggerated for ease of viewing (it looks like the Moon is covering Jupiter, but it doesn't).

Finding the bright planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) should be relatively easy as they are, well, bright. But as a beginner, how do you tell them from all the bright stars in the sky? Most newspapers publish rise set times for planets, but from there you can only work out the general area in the sky they will be. A good guide is that, in general, stars twinkle and planets don't. But on a still night this doesn't help (and there is a lot of sky to scan.

You can buy any number of sky charts, but they can be confusing to start off with when you are still a little unfamiliar with the sky, and the star formations are unfamiliar (by the way, I use Stellarium, a free photo-realistic sky planetarium program, it's fantastic for sky gazing. A guide to using Stellarium and some of the cool things it can do is here).

So what is a REALLY recognisable object, that is easy to find, and is close to the planets sometimes? The Moon of course. The Moon comes close to each of the bright planets at least once a month, so if you can identify the Moon, then if you know when the Moon and the bright planets are close, then it's a cinch. As well, the Moon and bright planets can form really lovely patterns in the sky.

But, of course, you need to have a list of times when the Moon is close to the bright planets. Luckily, I have one here. Of course, it is set up for Australia. As Australia is 8-10 hours ahead of Universal Time, for places behind UT (like the Americas) the occurrence will be the day before.

As an example, in about a weeks time on the 22nd of January in Australia, the Moon will be close to the planet Jupiter (see the diagram above) and make a nice formation with Jupiter and the bright star Aldebaran. For the America's this event will take place on the 21st (with the Moon really close to Jupiter). The presence of Aldebaran may be confusing, but it is a red star, while Jupiter will be a golden yellow, and the brighter of the two. Generally, the brightest object closest the Moon is the planet (Mars far from opposition is the exception).

Similarly, on February 4th in Australia, the Moon is close to Saturn, people in the Americas will see this on the 3rd, their time (see below).

People in the northern hemisphere will have a reversed view from those in the southern hemisphere, but in terms of finding things close to the Moon, this doesn't matter.

After you have identified the planets with the Moon, you can use this knowledge to spot them on subsequent nights. Of course, the planets move, but slowly, so shortly you can become familiar enough with the sky to locate them with ease.

Only Jupiter, Saturn and Venus are visible at the moment, Mars and Mercury are hidden by the Sun. However, over the coming mnths there will be several good planet/Moon enocunters, so it is worth looking out for them.

Saturn and the Moon as seen from Adelaide, Australia on February 4, 2013 at 3 am local daylight saving time, looking east. Similar views will be seen from the Southern hemisphere. The Moon's size has been exaggerated for ease of viewing.

Saturn and the Moon as seen from Roswell, New Mexico on February 3, 2013 at 3 am local time, looking East. Similar views will be seen from the Northern hemisphere. The Moon's size has been exaggerated for ease of viewing.

Now that Planet X hasn't surfaced, and the Mayan Apocalypse hasn't eventuated, the Doom Du Jour is Pole Shift. Apparently Earth's geographic pole and/or the poles of various other bodies such as Jupiter and Saturn is/are shifting/have shifted. Which is a Bad Thing (tm).

These contentions are supported by a variety of telescope and SOHO imager artefacts, and a poor understanding of what planets look like through a telescope.

A prime example is here. Now Dave Greg has dealt extensively with the telescope appearance imager artefact side of things (see here, here and here).

But there is one area where I feel the need for a bit more comment. The video says it will show you shocking evidence that Jupiter has moved from the ecliptic. The images above are a series of images from SOHO, where the position of Jupiter in the SOHO imager has changed. In the images above I've shown the same SOHO images as are in the video, and Jupiters position is different with respect to the central occulting disk. The fourth image is an overlya of the previous three to show the changes clearly.

Because the orbits aren't disturbed. Jupiter is exactly where we expect it to be, because Jupiter's orbit is not exactly on the plane of the ecliptic, but at an angle to it.

Jupiter's orbit is inclined to the plane of the ecliptci by one degree. This may not sound much, but it is twice the apparent diameter of the Sun (and Moon), thus in its orbit, Jupiter can move (from earth's perspective), substantially above and below the ecliptic. The black and white charts above (click to embiggen for a better view) shows the predicted position of Jupiter at the same dates as in the SOHO images as seem from Earth.

As with the SOHO images, the fourth image is an overlay of the previous three to show the changes clearly. The central black line is the plane of the ecliptic and the big circle the Sun. Jupiter is labelled. Note that in the SOHO images the occulting disk is bigger than the Sun, so in image one in the SOHO series the occulting disk touches Mercury,

They are almost identical to that of SOHO, but aren't exactly the same as SOHO is in a halo orbit around Lagrange point 1, and has a slightly different point of view to that of Earth. Nonetheless, the charts show that the amount of movement we see in the SOHO images is what we expect of Jupiter's orbit.

Note that the software I am using is from 2005, using a 1989 model of the planets orbits, which has not been updated. Thus the agreement between the plotted positions and the observed positions is not due to post facto orbit tweaking.

Jupiter's orbit modelled in Stellarium.I have aligned the plane of the ecliptic to be exactly horizontal, Jupiter's orbit is marked in red. Earth's orbit is indicated with the yellow arrow. Note that Jupiter's orbit goes above and below the plane of the ecliptic. Deviations slightly exaggerated due to perspective. Click to embiggen.

Planetary orbits have not been disturbed, the planets positions are exactly where we expect them to be. It is hard to tell if the posters of these claims, like the poster of the video we have been discussion, are merely deeply clueless about astronomy, or are deliberately trying to wind people up.

In the meantime, the next tie someone posts a video or claim that the planets orbits are disturbed, ask yourself "how would hundreds of thousands of amateur astronomers not notice this?" and contavt your local planetarium if you are worried.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Coming Events: A Year of Southern Astronomy for 2013

Coming Events in 2013
Significant Astronomical events that can be seen with the unaided eye or minimal equipment in 2013 in Australia (and to some degree elsewhere in the Southern Hemisphere, ocultations and eclipses are very region specific). Special events are bolded.

6 January 2013; Occultation of Spica
7 January 2013; Moon Near Saturn
10-11 January 2013; Moon Near Venus
13 January 2013; Moon Near Mars
18-22 January 2013; Comet C/2012 F6 Lemmon in the Southern Cross
20 January 2013; Comet Lemmon near the Jewel Box Cluster
22 January 2013; Moon Near Jupiter
1-28 February 2013; Comet Lemmon visible to the unaided eye
3 February 2013; Moon near Saturn9-28 February 2013; Comet PanSTARRS visible in evening twilight
9 February 2013; Venus near Moon in morning twilight18 February 2013; Occultation of Jupiter
1-14 March 2013; Comet PanSTARRS visible in evening twilight
2 March 2013; Moon close to Saturn
11 March 2013; Moon close to Mercury
18 March 2013; Moon close to Jupiter
29 March 2013; Moon close to Saturn
8 April 2013, Moon close to Mercury
14 April 2013, Moon close to Jupiter
26 April 2013, Partial Lunar Eclipse
28 April 2013, Saturn at opposition
5 May 2013; Eta Aquarid meter shower.10 May 2013; Annular eclipse of the Sun
23 May 2013, Moon and Saturn close.
26 May 2013, Venus, Mercury and Jupiter close together.
29 May 2013, Venus, Mercury and Jupiter close together.
7 June 2013, Crescent Moon and Mars close together.
10 June 2013, Crescent Moon, Venus and Mercury close together.
19 June 2013, Moon and Saturn close.
21 June 2013, Mercury and Venus close.
30 June 2013, "Blue" first quarter Moon.
6 July 2013, Crescent Moon and Mars close.
7 July 2013, Crescent Moon and Jupiter close.
10 July 2013, Venus and crescent Moon close.
17 July 2013, Saturn and Moon close.
22 July 2013, Evening, Venus and Regulus closee.
22 July 2013, Morning, Mars and Jupiter close.
4 August 2013, Jupiter and thin crescent Moon close.
5 August 2013, Mars, Mercury and thin crescent Moon close.
10 August 2013, Venus and crescent Moon close.
13 August 2013, Staurn and Moon close.
1 September 2013, Crescent Moon close to Jupiter.
2 September 2013, Crescent Moon close to Mars.
6 September 2013, Crescent Moon close to Mercury.
6 September 2013, Venus and Spica close.
8 September 2013, Crescent Moon close to Venus.
25 September 2013, Mercury and Spica close.
1 October 2013, Crescent Moon and Mars close.
7 October 2013, Mercury, Saturn and Crescent Moon close.
8 October 2013, Venus close to crescent Moon.
16 October 2013, Mars close to Regulus.
17 October 2013, Venus close to Antares.
21 October 2013, Orionid meteor shower.
22 October 2013, Orionid meteor shower.
26 October 2013, Jupiter close to Moon.
7 November 2013, Crescent Moon close to Venus.
10-20 November 2013, Venus crosses Sagittarius.
17 November 2013, Leonid Meteor Shower.
22 November 2013, Moon close to Jupiter.
26 November 2013, Saturn and Mercury close.
28 November 2013, Crescent Moon close to Mars.
1 December 2013, Crescent Moon close to Saturn.
2 December 2013, Crescent Moon close to Mercury.
6 December 2013, Crescent Moon close to Venus.
13 December 2013, Geminid Meteor shower.
26 December 2013, Mars and Moon close.
29 December 2013, Saturn and Crescent Moon close.

Friday, January 11, 2013

Comet C/2012 F6 Lemmon Passes Through the Heart of the Southern Cross

Comet C/2012 F6 Lemmon's
location as seen from Adelaide at midnight AEDST on 11 January. Similar views will be seen elsewhere in Australia and New Zealand at equivalent local times. (click to
embiggen).

Comet C/2012 F6 Lemmon is quite bright at the moment, being much brighter than predicted.

It is currently magnitude 8 and will
brighten over the remaining month to around magnitude 6.5. At magnitude 8 the comet will be tricky to observe in 10x50 or smaller binoculars under light polluted suburban skies. But as the weeks go on it will become quite easy to see in binoculars as it brightens.

It is a reasonably easy target with a small telescope under most skies. Unfortunately, towards the end of the month the waxing Moon will make observing more difficult (Full Moon 27 January).

In February it will brighten up to magnitude 3, easily observable with the unaided eye.

Printable black and white chart for locating comet C/2012 F6. It shows the location of the Southern Cross and the comet at midnight. The middle of the chart is due south. Click to embiggen, then print the chart.

The comet is well placed for observation from around midnight, but the comet is highest early in the morning. It is in a rich area
of the sky, and from the 16th the comet is within binocular distance many open clusters. Between the 18th and the 22nd the comet crosses the iconic constellation of Southern Cross and the star clusters that lie at the heart of this constellation.

Many of these are quite dim, and not observable in binoculars, but reasonably easy in even small telescopes. The brighter encounters are listed below (magnitudes in brackets).

On the 20th it the comet close to the open
clusters NGC 4755 (4.2, the iconic Jewel Box Cluster) and NGC 4349 (7.4). On the 21st it's near
another open cluster, NGC 4609 (6.9). On the 22nd two more open
clusters are nearby, NGC 4463 (7.2) and NGC 4815 (8.6, a bit too dim for binoculars).

Printable black and white chart for locating comet C/2012 F6 in binoculars. Click to embiggen, then print the chart. The circle represents the field of view of 10 x 50 binoculars.

On the 26th, after it has the comet is close to the
globular cluster NGC 4833 (7.4) and on the 27th the globular NGC 4372
(7.8).

Locating the comet is reasonably easy with 10x50 binoculars, from the 11th to the 16th, sweep down along the axis of the Southern Cross, looking for a fuzzy star. At the moment the tail is small and dim. You may need to watch over a couple of nights to see it move and make sure it is not a star cluster. From the 18th to 22nd the brightening comet should be easy to observe in the heart of the Cross.

In the later part of the month, when the Moon has set, even simple digital cameras with a timer function should be able to image the comet with 15 seconds or more exposure time (you will need a tripod).

While not spectacular, this will be a good comet, and a good opening act for the potentially spectacular comet 2011 L4 PANSTARRS in late February.

The iTelescope Siding Spring Observatory Facility is Officially Open

As many of you know, I do a lot of comet and NEO imaging using the remote telescopes of Telescope. I also write alerts for them, and am one of their science advisers.

They have 'scopes in the US, Italy and Australia, giving world wide coverage of the sky.

So you may understand that I've been excited by this bit of news for a long time, the Australian iTelescopes have a new home at the iconic Siding Spring Observatory.(more details of the story here)

Pete Poulos at the site of the new iTelecope facility on Siding Spring in September 2011.

It's taken a while to develop the site and set up the scopes, but the wait has been well worth it, there are now several world class 'scopes up there. The bedding in runs have been done and now the 'scopes are ready for the world.

Sadly, as I write this, the SSO is threatened by the fires in New South Wales, and the astronomers resident up there are on evacuation alert. Hopefully all will be well and the danger will pass, but send them your best wishes folks.

Wednesday, January 09, 2013

Asteroid Apophis, 9 January 2013

Asteroid (99942) Apophis imaged using the iTelescopeT5 instrument. The image is 5x 120 second images stacked on the asteroid using ImageJ. The Asteroid is about magnitude 16.1 and is indicated by the straight lines.

Asteroid (99942) Apophis is the original "killer asteroid".
After some inital worry, it is now realised to be (mostly) harmless. Despite close approaches in 2029 and 2036, the probability that this
rock will hit us is extremely remote (1 in 250,000 for the 2036 return,
not at all for the 2029 approach).

The first very close approach of Apophis is in 2029 (when it will be
visible to the unaided eye at around magnitude 3), however on January 9 at 14:09
UT when it is 0.0968 AU away it is visible in serious amateur scopes at magnitude 16.

Apophis will remain bright for the next few days, and is nice for it's iconic status, rather than any beautiful images we might take.

Tuesday, January 08, 2013

The Sky This Week - Thursday January 10 to Thursday January 17

The New Moon is Saturday January 12. Jupiter is prominent in the evening sky. Saturn
is visible high in the
morning sky. Venus is low on the
horizon and is visited by the crescent Moon on the 10th. Comet C/2012 K5
visible in telescopes in the northern sky.

Morning sky on Thursday January 10
looking east as seen from Adelaide at 5:30 am local daylight saving
time in
South Australia. The thin crescent Moon is close to Venus. Similar views will be
seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time
(click to embiggen).

The New Moon is Saturday January 12.

Bright white Venus
is now quite low above the eastern horizon, and hard to see from
cluttered horizons. Venus looks like a waxing Moon when seen through
even a small telescope.

Venus starts the week in the constellation of Ophiuchus, and ends it in Sagittarius.

On the 10th Venus is close to the crescent Moon.

Saturn
is now readily visible above the north-eastern horizon before dawn.
Saturn
climbs higher in the morning sky, becoming easier to see in the morning
sky. It should be high enough to be wothwhile in a small telescope. Saturn is in the constellation of Libra.

Evening sky looking North as seen
from Adelaide at 22:00 pm local daylight saving time on Saturday, January 12. The inset
shows Jupiter's Moons at this time. The location of comet C/2012K5 is indicated. Similar
views will
be seen
elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click
to embiggen.

Jupiter
is visible for most of the night, and is the brightest object in the
evening sky. Despite opposition having just passed on the December the
3rd,
Jupiter is prominent in the north-eastern early evening sky, being quite
visible in the twilight. Jupiter is below the
Hyades, near the red star Aldebaran. Jupiter remains near
Aldebaran during the week, making it look as if the Bull has two eyes.

Jupiter, Aldebaran and the white star Rigel in Orion form a long line
in the sky. With the Pleiades cluster and the constellation of Orion close by, this is a beautiful sight.

Jupiter is easily seen in the late evening sky, rising around 5:00 pm
local daylight saving time and is highest in the north by 10:30 pm. Now is a perfect
time to observe Jupiter with a telescope of any size in the evening.
Jupiters' Moons are
easily seen in binoculars, and can be followed from night to night
changing position. On the evening of Monday January 14 ay 9:000 pm local daylight savings time in the astern and central states, Io has a shadow transit and Ganymede appears from being occulted.

Comet C/2012 K5 LINEAR is a nice little comet that is now visible in Australian skies to the north.It has faded somewhat, and is now only visible in a telescope. See here for a spotting chart suitable for small telescopes. Roger Powell has a nice image of the comet here.

Evening twilight sky looking west as seen
from Adelaide at 21:00 pm local daylight saving time on Sunday, January 13. The location of mars and the thin crescent Moon are shown. Similar
views will
be seen
elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click
to embiggen.

Mars
is lost in the twilight, but on the 13th is an opportunity to see it deep in the twilight. On the 13th the thin crescent Moon is close to Mars. Using binoculars, if you sweep up from the Moon at civil twilight, you may catch a glimpse of Mars. Yu will need a level, flat horizon for this. You may even need binoculars to find the Moon.